20d and its black and white mode. question about filters..

[jpsimon]

If you use a yellow or red filter with black and white film you can bring out the sky A LOT... (yellow a bunch... red = makes the blue super dark in tone.. and even works wonders on overcast days).

anyways i wasn't sure how the 20d actually did its b/w conversion.. would using a yellow or red filter infront of the lens while shooting the 20d in its b/w mode bring in the same results as if it were film? or is it just taking the color photo and changing it to grayscale afterwards?

i have a 300d right now.. but picking up a 20d next week.. so i was just curious

[Adam Hicks]

I haven't played with it yet on my 20D, but it allows you to add simulated filters when in black and white mode, yellow, red, etc and the example shots I've seen look really nice, very close to the effect of colored filters on B&W film... or at least close for being simulated! You might just play around with that for a bit and see if you're happy with the results. There's some sample pics in your 20D manual when you get it.

You'll be so busy drooling over the new shutter speed and ergonomic control improvements that it'll be a few days before you think about the black and white issue again :)

Good luck
Adam

[DaveG]

If you use a yellow or red filter with black and white film you can bring out the sky A LOT... (yellow a bunch... red = makes the blue super dark in tone.. and even works wonders on overcast days).

anyways i wasn't sure how the 20d actually did its b/w conversion.. would using a yellow or red filter infront of the lens while shooting the 20d in its b/w mode bring in the same results as if it were film? or is it just taking the color photo and changing it to grayscale afterwards?

i have a 300d right now.. but picking up a 20d next week.. so i was just curious

The filters DO NOT work on cloudy days. The idea behind the filters - with black and white film - is as follows. The red filter does not see blue very well and will record the blue sky as clear on the negative. When you print this negative the sky will be black. This progresses through orange to yellow with the final black becoming lighter or more grey if you like.

Why would a filter pick out the grey overcast sky to darken? It doesn't know it's the sky, does it? If it did darken it, it'd darken EVERY bit of grey tone in the shot and be more or less a neutral density filter, and that doesn't make much sense.

[jpsimon]

well the skys were "partly" overcast so there was some blue to it to begin with so the filter worked... the professor showed us a couple of his prints from i guess "partly overcast" days. im not talking about complete gray skies

[blinking8s]

filters make a dramatic difference in b&w photography, especially on partly clouds days, as long as there is detail in the sky...but they sky or subject, depending on the filter you choose, does need to have detail...if its a fully overcast or nothin but blue sky day your going to have a bitch of a time with the blank sky anyway...

ansel adams used filters and long exposures to manipulate his landscapes heavily...

[DaveG]

filters make a dramatic difference in b&w photography, especially on partly clouds days, as long as there is detail in the sky...but they sky or subject, depending on the filter you choose, does need to have detail...if its a fully overcast or nothin but blue sky day your going to have a bitch of a time with the blank sky anyway...

ansel adams used filters and long exposures to manipulate his landscapes heavily...

The key is BLUE sky. Then it's magic. If it's grey then it's grey.

[Jon]

The other way filters help in BW is through cutting haze. Not quite the same effect as darkening the sky, but the same cause since hazy conditgions first and foremost scatter the blue end of the spectrum, while the yellow - red rays get through with less scattering. They are (were) very commonly used in survey/photogrammetric aerial photography for just that reason. A Wratten 12 (Minus-Blue) was virtually standard on your aerial camera with B&W film.